“The Arctic is at the forefront of opportunity and abundance,” Pompeo said, according to CNN. “It houses 13 percent of the world’s undiscovered oil, 30 percent of its undiscovered gas, an abundance of uranium, rare earth minerals, gold, diamonds, and millions of square miles of untapped resources, fisheries galore.”

“Steady reductions in sea ice are opening new passageways and new opportunities for trade,” Pompeo added. “This could potentially slash the time it takes to travel between Asia and the West by as much as 20 days.”

Pompeo warned that Russia is increasingly aggressive about the region, and he said China appears to have a vested national security interest in the region. Pompeo said both countries could be trying to claim the Arctic’s vast natural resources for themselves, Reuters reported.

Pompeo’s criticisms “were totally out of sync with the facts,” China Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said, according to Reuters. “It is inconsistent with the general trend of peaceful cooperation in the Arctic, completely confuses right with wrong, and has ulterior motives.”

Front row from left, Foreign Ministers of Russia, Sergey Lavrov, Sweden, Margot Wallstrom, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Finland’s Foreign Minister Timo Soini pose for a picture during the Arctic Council summit at the Lappi Areena in Rovaniemi, Finland May 7, 2019. Mandel Ngan/Pool via REUTERS

The Finland meeting brought together the Arctic council composed of eight member countries. Besides Finland, Russia and the United States, the rest of the council is made up by Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. China obtained observer status on the council in 2013.

The council sought to agree upon a joint declaration of goals for the Arctic, but could not get the U.S. to sign on to a proposed document, The Associated Press reported.

Well he sure hasn’t looked a changes in Artic sea ice in the last 10years. But that’s too easy we have data on all that, any one can work that out.

“It houses 13 percent of the world’s undiscovered oil” . Wow, that’s clever. He knows quite precisely how much “undiscovered oil” there is. I’ll bet he even knows how many unknown unknowns there are in climatology.

“Pompeo warned that Russia is increasingly aggressive about the region, and he said China appears to have a vested national security interest in the region. Pompeo said both countries could be trying to claim the Arctic’s vast natural resources for themselves, Reuters reported.”
First come, first served. Russians are rapidly enlarging their nuclear powered ice breakers fleet.
A cording to wikipedia USA has only two coast-guard Arctic active ice breakers (one 40+, the other 20 old old) and one for great lakes, probably unsuitable for Arctichttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_icebreakers#United_States_Coast_Guard
without larger number of purpose built ice-breakers not much can be done up there.

**“Steady reductions in sea ice are opening new passageways and new opportunities for trade,” Pompeo added**
Why are not these politicians up to date?
Where is the CIA?
I thought the intelligent services would have noticed what a few of us have noticed. that the Arctic ice has STOPPED DECREASING in the summer.
So what is next? An increase? It has as good a chance of increasing as decreasing.
So much for shipping. What happened in 2018?

We only have 40 years of September sea ice records.
12 years of near-flat, with a peak in 82-84.
16 years of declining sea ice minimums.
12 years now of steady (flat!) sea ice minimums: 2007-2018.

Just the beginning of a 66-80 year oscillation:
Late 1978 was the start of the satellite record.
82-84 was maximum.
2007-2018 was the minimum.
It may continue increasing, it may remain steady.

The less Arctic sea ice all year round, the more heat is lost to the infinite cold blackness of deep space.

Do you truly believe a simplistic straight line exaggeration is correct into the future?
Your exaggeration starts off higher than any recorded value, continues straight down until it is lower than any recorded value.

What you fear is that Arctic ice has natural cycles and is not in freefall. When you have 200 years data then you might be able to make reasonable predictions. Until then might be best to keep quiet with the fearmongering.

They better start building new and heavier nuclear fuelled ice management vessels, also called icebreakers. I don’t think the ice in the arctic will suddenly stop forming, even though IPCC’s models and Al Gore say so…

It is good to see that the current US administration is consistent. They believe
in global warming if it will allow open up new areas for oil and gas drilling
but disbelieve in it if it shuts downs existing areas for oil and gas drilling.

A false strawman.
Pompeo stated neither U.S. doctrine nor beliefs. He simply stated facts according to a popular mindset.

“The Arctic is at the forefront of opportunity and abundance,” Pompeo said, according to CNN. “It houses 13 percent of the world’s undiscovered oil, 30 percent of its undiscovered gas, an abundance of uranium, rare earth minerals, gold, diamonds, and millions of square miles of untapped resources, fisheries galore.”

“Steady reductions in sea ice are opening new passageways and new opportunities for trade,” Pompeo added. “This could potentially slash the time it takes to travel between Asia and the West by as much as 20 days.”

Nor does the USA require less ice to find and tap into oil deposits. Only that less ice makes it easier.

If the South China Sea is any indication how China views international sea boundaries and just outright bullying and theft of the EEZ of claimant countries resources, then Canada/USA/Europe better be prepared to cooperate together in the Arctic to beat back these land/ocean grabbers. China has little scruples when it comes to respecting the rights of other countries, and even less about the health of the local environment. For these reasons and many more, it will take the re-election of DJT to keep China in line in the Arctic just as we see with the current trade issues where China had been given a free pass on almost everything it had been involved with since Tiananmen Square. While the Arctic will probably freeze up again in the long term climate cycling between warmer and cooler weather, let’s ensure that all countries adhere to maritime rule of law in the Arctic and the rest of the planet.

Can you imagine what kind of world we would have if USA didn’t have the 1000+ military bases and installations around the world? The world we have today is because of USA and Nato allies and the fact we won WW2 both in Europe and Asia.

Wooden Boat Magazine has an article (May/June 2019, no. 268) about a double-ended gaff rigged sailboat named LADY FREE, design based on a pilot boat. In summer 2017 they went through the NW passage from W to E in order to complete circumnavigation of N and S America. With help from Canadian Coast Guard they made if with small difficulties. They mostly sailed in a low wind situation along with a few others holding cans of fuel on their deck. Article has photo of crew of 4 inspecting an ice floe. A toughly built boat, fascinating story. WBM is not PC, these guys know about oceans and scale.

Boat owner is a mathematics professor from University of Bergen who sailed from Norway to Brazil solo, doing math in his head.

There is very little to suggest that any new areas will become accessible anytime soon. The Northeast Passage might possbly become passable for ice-reinforced vessel the whole year when Russia finishes their new giant Nuclear Icebreakers (at present it is only passable July-November).

The Northwest Passage (southern route) is at best open a few weeks a year in August-September for shallow draft vessels (max 6 meter draught). The northern deepwater route through Mc Clure Strait requires very powerful icebreakers that doesn’t exist in either Canada or USA.
Last year c. 40 vessels tried to go through the Northwest Passage. Two, both small yachts, succeeded. Out of seven major cruise vessels that were planning to show wealthy tourists how the Arctic is melting, not a single one got through. All cancelled or turned back, one grounded trying out a badly surveyed alternate route and one couldn’t even get as far as the starting point of the cruise in Resolute.

And as for going straight across the Polar Basin, the Swedish icebreaker Odin, the most powerful non-nuclear icebreaker in the World, reported extreme difficulties in getting as far as the North Pole, the ice conditions being the worst in 15 years.

The “legal” relocation of indigenous families became a tactic employed by all the “polar bear countries” in an international chess match to stake claims on Arctic resources. In 1925, Denmark relocated families in Greenland to counter any Norwegian claims to the island. The following year the Soviet government moved a small Eskimo community to Wrangel Island in order to replace an occupation of Alaskan Eskimos that had been established there by American interests. The relocation of families was also a crucial cold-war tactic by Canada to insure their claims on the Arctic, but not just against any Russian threats, but more so from perceived encroachments by the United States.

read McGhee, R. (2007) The Last Imaginary Place: A Human History of the Arctic World. University Of Chicago Press.

Yeah, I have often thought about the insulation effect from the ice cover. It seems to me like the water should loose more heat energy without ice cover. Does anyone really know how it works out, energy budget wise? Is this yet another thermostat? I find it hard to believe that CO2 would make much difference for sea ice build and melt.

Have to say, I’ve not yet seen anything about significant territorial claims by China in the Arctic.

I was under the impression that they are aggressively asserting claims in the South China Sea, where there may be large petroleum deposits. I can easily believe the motives and desires, but action in the Arctic Ocean is still surely a long way beyond their reach?

Russia plants flag on North Pole seabed
“Russia symbolically staked its claim to billions of dollars worth of oil and gas reserves in the Arctic Ocean today when two mini submarines reached the seabed more than two and a half miles beneath the North Pole.”https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/aug/02/russia.arctic

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